26-116 - RFP for Affordable Housing Litigation 2026

CITY OF CLIFTON
DEPARTMENT OF PURCHASING
26-116 -SPECIAL COUNSEL SERVICES IN CONNECTION
WITH AFFORDABLE HOUSING LITIGATION
FOR
THE CITY OF CLIFTON
2026 - 2027

NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR FAIR AND OPEN PROPOSAL
Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 19:44A-20.4 et seq., the City of Clifton is soliciting Fair and Open Proposals
for Special Counsel Services in Connection with Affordable Housing Litigation for the period
of one (1) year from date of contract award. Proposals shall be endorsed "Special Counsel Services
in Connection with Affordable Housing Litigation" and delivered to Purchasing Agent Amisha
Jariwala, City of Clifton, 900 Clifton Avenue, Clifton, New Jersey 07013.
Due Date: April 30, 2026 at 11:00 AM
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CITY OF CLIFTON
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
SPECIAL COUNSEL SERVICES IN CONNECTION WITH AFFORDABLE HOUSING
LITIGATION SERVICES FOR THE CITY OF CLIFTON
The City of Clifton is soliciting a Request for Proposal ("RFP") to provide Special Counsel Services
in Connection with Affordable Housing/COAH Litigation to the City, as directed by the Municipal
Attorney or designee thereof, for a contract period of one (1) year from date of contract award. All
candidates are required to comply with N.J.S.A. 10:5-31, et seq. and N.J.A.C. 17:27 as amended
(Affirmative Action).
I - GENERAL
City of Clifton is seeking Proposals ("RFP") from law firms licensed to practice law in the State
of New Jersey that wish to provide Affordable Housing Counsel and legal representation of the
City in all matters relating to affordable housing. Any experience or knowledge of matters directly
affecting the City of Clifton should be addressed, for a contract period of one (1) year from date of
contract execution.
All candidates are required to comply with N.J.S.A. 10:5-31 et seq. and N.J.A.C. 17:27 et seq. as
amended. (Affirmative Action).
The successful firm must have significant experience in representing New Jersey municipalities in
Affordable Housing/COAH litigation. Responsibilities will include working with the Municipal
Attorney to prepare and file pleadings, spending plan amendments, Declaratory Judgment
complaints and to represent the City in connection proceedings and hearings associated with the
court filing. Applicants should demonstrate knowledge and experience with affordable housing
and COAH litigation, Municipal Land Use Law, and zoning and planning. The successful firm
will provide the City of Clifton (City) with legal guidance relating to affordable housing litigation,
but not necessarily limited to:
1. Legal research and/or advisory opinions as needed;
2. Draft pleadings and stipulations for affordable housing issues;
3. Represent the City in litigation in federal and state courts and administrative forums with regard
to Affordable Housing issues;
6. Any other related matters as directed by the City.
All questions relating to the RFP shall be submitted in writing to City of Clifton Purchasing Agent,
Amisha Jariwala, via email to: ajariwala@cliftonnj.org, no later than 3:00 PM on April 23, 2026.
Any questions, which in the opinion of the City warrant a return reply or an amendment to the RFP,
will be furnished to all parties not less than seven (7) business days prior to receipt of Proposals.
Proposals shall be received no later than 11:00 AM on April 30, 2026, and must be made on the
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basis that they either meet or exceed the requirements contained herein.
II - SCOPE OF SERVICES
The City of Clifton requires outside counsel for representation of the City in Affordable Housing
Litigation and other Affordable Housing legal matters.
A. Represent the City in all affordable housing legal matters and shall advise and assist the
Municipal Attorney, the City Manager and the Departments as necessary of these matters.
B. Attend meetings of the Municipal Council as directed, draft ordinances and resolutions as
directed by the City Manager or the majority of the members of the City Council and give opinions
and rulings on questions of affordable housing law which may arise the request of a majority of the
members of the Municipal Attorney or the City Manager.
C. Represent the City in affordable housing litigation, and conduct trials, appeals and other
proceedings affecting the interest of the City as may be necessary or desirable, subject to the
approval of the Municipal Attorney.
D. Represent the City, subject to the approval of the Municipal Attorney or City Manager, in
affordable housing matters before the State entity which is conferred with the authority to administer
affordable housing matters.
E. Participate, as may be necessary and as may be directed by majority of the members of the
Municipal Attorney or the City Manager in preparation of any documents required by the State
entity which is conferred with the authority to administer affordable housing matters.
F. Work may include drafting pleadings, motions, briefs, and all other papers to be filed in court;
conducting and responding to discovery; attending all pre-trial, trial, and post-trial court
appearances; and handling appeals.
G. Respondent must also have resources sufficient to advance all costs, including the costs of any
experts needed to assess damage and the costs of the preparatory work described below.
H. Respondent must also be free of any conflict of interest and must comply with the conflicts policy
referred to in section III.i below.
III - MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
Listed below are the minimum requirements necessary to be considered for this proposal:
a) At a minimum, the Respondent shall have five (5) consecutive years' experience as
Affordable Housing Litigation Counsel, representing a municipality or other public
governmental entity.
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b) Respondents must demonstrate knowledge of COAH issues pursuant to the applicable
laws and regulations of New Jersey State.
c) The Respondent Must maintain a bona fide office in the State of New Jersey. Please list
the firm's office address on the proposal signature form enclosed herein.
d) The Respondent must list past and present public entities represented in Affordable
Housing/COAH litigation.
e) The Respondent must identify the attorney(s) and support staff that will be assigned to
the account for handling Affordable Housing litigation and their experience in handling
such actions and the outcomes of the actions that they handled.
f) The Respondent must maintain an office within a reasonable distance to the City of
Clifton.
g) The Respondent must be licensed to practice law in the State of New Jersey and appear
before all state and federal and administrative courts of the State of New Jersey for a period
of not less than five (5) years preceding appointment.
h) The Respondent must have a sufficient staff to perform the services set forth in the Scope
of Services in this RFP.
i) The Respondent must not have represented or is not currently representing a client whose
interests are adverse to those of the City of Clifton, thereby creating a conflict of interest and
the period of time covered by this restriction is five years prior to the date of the proposal
submitted in response to this RFP.
j) The Respondent must maintain professional liability insurance in the minimum amount
of One Million Dollars per occurrence (One million aggregate).
IV - PROFESSIONAL INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS
The Respondent:
1. Shall provide Name, Federal I.D. number, address, phone and fax numbers of the
firm submitting the proposal and a brief description of legal background such as
years in business, size of staff and any affiliations.
2. Shall provide Name, title and address of principal/individual preparing this
response and the contact person for the RFP.
3. Shall provide Name, title, address and phone number of individual(s) to be assigned
as the Affordable Housing Counsel for the City.
4. Shall describe the professional achievements of the firm and the principal who
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would be assigned to the City of Clifton as its account consultant such as
educational background, licenses, number of clients handled and number of years
as an Affordable Housing Litigation attorney. Resumes or summarized
credentials are too be attached.
5. Shall provide a list of New Jersey public sector entities for which the firm has
provided similar services to those contained herein, including the name, title and
phone number of the appropriate contact person within the entity.
6. All respondents must be partners, owners, employees of the firm.
7. Respondents must provide a comprehensive schedule of proposed fees and hourly
rates for partners and associates of the firm.
8. The Respondent may submit any supplemental information it deems important to
the evaluation of this proposal and the reason why it should be considered in the
overall evaluation of the proposal.
V - COMPENSATION
1) Payment to the successful Respondent shall be based on the hourly rates with monthly
invoices submitted to the City broken down by tenths of hours.
2) All expenses and fees other than compensation as set forth above shall be actual out-
of-pocket expenses incurred by the Respondent without any additions for overhead,
etc. No additional charges will be billed for fax transmissions or online research fees
and copy costs will be billed at 15 cents per page.
3) Hourly rates for paralegal services are not permitted.
4) The Firm's fees shall be paid after receipt of a proper invoice and executed payment
voucher.
5) The Firm shall not accept any compensation for related City activities from any source
other than the fee paid by the City of Clifton.
VI - CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS
1) The term of this agreement is to be a period of one (1) year from date of contract
execution.
2) Respondent's proposal shall remain valid for a period of ninety (90) days after
submission and will be considered as a binding offer to perform the required services.
3) Respondents shall comply with all Local, State and Federal directives, orders, and laws
as applicable to this proposal.
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4) The successful Respondent shall not assign or transfer this agreement to any other person
or company without prior consent and approval in writing from the City of Clifton.
5) Only one (1) proposal from the same Firm will be considered. A Respondent
submitting more than one (1) proposal will cause the rejection of all the proposals of
said consultant. If there is a reason for believing that collusion exists among
Respondents, those proposals shall be rejected.
6) All proposals and documents submitted to the City of Clifton in response to this RFP
shall become the property of the City of Clifton and are subject to the Open Public
Records Act of the State of New Jersey, after the contract is awarded.
7) The City of Clifton may secure background information based upon the references
provided in this RFP.
VII - SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS (FORMS)
1. Affirmative Action Employee Information Report or Certificate of Employee Information Report.
2. Acknowledgment of Receipt of Addenda (if applicable).
3. Non-Collusion Affidavit.
4. Investment Activities in Energy or Finance Sectors of Iran.
5. Prohibited Activities in Russia and Belarus.
6. Stockholder Disclosure Certification.
7. Proposal Form.
8. New Jersey Business Registration Certificate.
9. IRS W-9 Form.
10. Pay to Play Advisory Form.
Note: Failure to submit any one of the above items may be cause for rejection.
VIII - PROPOSAL EVALUATION
A. GENERAL
1. Responsiveness to the scope of services.
2. Organization of Proposal.
B. PERSONNEL
1. Experience and qualifications of principal assigned to this project and of the
firm's principals.
C. EXPERIENCE AND SERVICES OF FIRM
* History and experience with similar types of government entities.
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* Favorable references from public sector clients for which similar services have been provided.
* Reputation in the legal community in representing management.
* Experience and reputation in the legal community of the partner that will be the primary
attorney to function as Affordable Housing Counsel for the City of Clifton.
D. TECHNICAL EXPERTISE
* Knowledge and skill in areas of brief writing, handling of Affordable Housing
litigation, and appellate practice.
E. HOURLY RATES FEES
* The City will consider hourly rates proposed of Respondent's partners and associates.
F. COMMUNICATION SKILLS
* Ability to work and communicate effectively with City of Clifton staff,
Management personnel, and any others as may be necessary.
2. SUBMISSION DATE
Proposals shall be received by the Purchasing Agent no later than 11:00 a.m. on April 30,
2026.
Respondents are to submit Two (2) copies: (1) bound copy and (1) un-bound copy and one
digital copy on Flash Drive/Thumb Drive (marked with firm name or sealed in small envelope with
firm name marked outside).
3. AWARD OF CONTRACT
The City of Clifton reserves the right to reject any and all Proposals, to waive any
curable irregularities or technicalities and to award a contract to the Respondent whose
response is most advantageous, price and other factors considered to the City of Clifton.
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CITY OF CLIFTON PROPOSAL FORM
SPECIAL COUNSEL SERVICES IN CONNECTION
WITH AFFORDABLE HOUSING LITIGATION
Firm Name:
Signature: ________________________________________ Date: _______________
Print Name: __________________________________ Title: ____________________
Address:
______________________________________________________________________
Tax ID/FEIN: ______________________________
Phone: Fax:
Email: ________________________________________________________________
Respondents hereby propose the following rates:
1. Hourly Rate for Partners: $ ______________
2. Hourly Rate for Associates: $
NOTE: Should the Respondent have other cost considerations for the City to evaluate as part of the
submission, such fees or associated costs shall be outlined in an attached fee schedule.
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FAILURE TO SUBMIT FORMS SHALL BE CAUSE FOR REJECTION OF THE PROPOSAL
A. Mandatory Affirmative Action Certification
No firm may be issued a contract unless it complies with the affirmative action regulations of
N.J.S.A. 10:5-31 et. seq. (P.L. 1975, c 127).
1. Procurement, Professional and Service Contracts
All Successful vendors must submit, within seven days after receipt of the notice of intent
to award the contract or the receipt of the contract, one of the following:
i. A photocopy of a valid letter for an approved Federal Affirmative Action Plan (good
for one year from the date of the letter), or
ii. A photocopy of an approved Certificate of Employee Information Report
,
or
iii. If the vendor has none of the above, the public agency is required to provide the vendor
with an initial Affirmative Action Employee Information Report (AA-302).
B. Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
Discrimination on the basis of disability in contracting for the purchase of bids and services is prohibited.
The successful Respondent is required to read Americans with Disabilities language that is part of this
specification and agrees that the provisions of Title II of the Act are made a part of the contract. The successful
Respondent is obligated to comply with the Act and to hold the City of Clifton harmless.
C. Stockholder Disclosure
Chapter 33 of the Public Laws of 1977 provides that no corporation or partnership shall be awarded any
contract for the performance of any work or the furnishing of any materials or supplies, unless, prior to the
receipt of the bid or accompanying the bid of said corporation or partnership, there is submitted a statement
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